The meeting was called to order at 6pm EST by Councilman DeShazior who introduced the first speaker,  District Chief Sierjie Lash of the Akron Fire Department.

Lash was congratulated and is the first woman to reach the rank of district chief in the Akron Fire Department’s history: beaconjournal.com/story/news/loc…

Lash shared information and resources about the Akron Fire Department, including that residents have access to free home fire safety inspections and carbon monoxide detectors.

Two members of the West Hill Neighborhood Association (WHNA), including the new president, presented about the organization and its upcoming events. Learn more about the org here: whno.org/#/

This Saturday, Oct 14, WHNA is hosting a free outdoor movie night at the Oakdale pocket park (88 Oakdale Ave) starting at 6:30pm. They are showing The Princess Bride and you can reserve here: tickettailor.com/events/westhil…

On Saturday, Oct 5 WHNA is hosting Wonderfest, a neighborhood celebration to include live music, local food and beer, a market, and kid-friendly activities.

On October 26 WHNO is hosting West Hill Halloween, a full day event helping to connect the community and offering family activities as well as an adult-only booze trail. The event is free and you can find information and tickets here: bit.ly/WHHalloween2024

Nino Colla with the Akron Marathon then shared about the marathon route and road closures, and encouraged residents to host block parties to cheer for runners. Questions can be sent to info@akronmarathon.org and more info is on the website: . akronmarathon.org

Director of Public Service Chris Ludle spoke next and shared about the status of projects across Akron. He thanked residents for participating in glass recycling saying that they’ve sorted 80,000lbs of glass leading to $16,000 revenue since the program started.

A member of the public asked Ludle about issues such as leaking at the Balch Street Community Center. Ludle said this will be addressed in the capital budget, but likely work cannot be done until second quarter of 2025.

Ludle addressed the storm on Aug 8. He said area sewers are designed for a “10 year storm” and with rain of nearly 4 inches in <2 hours, that day was considered a “500 year storm.” They received 260 calls for service and have helped over half with cleaning so far.

Joe Kunzler then shared about progress on a “quiet zone” project working to stop trains passing through Akron from blowing their horns in residential areas, especially at night. The Bastogne station will be implementing this and they will pursue others.

Meeting adjourned at 7:40pm EST. This concludes the Akron Ward 1 meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for Nov 14. For more meeting coverage, check out . akron.documenters.org

Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any questions on the meeting or these tweets to @signalakron. Or email us at documenters@signalakron.org.